Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the postponement of Small Charities Challenge Fund funding on (a) UK-based small international development charities, (b) jobs supported by the Small Charities Challenge Fund and (c) the UK achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). We are currently working through the implications of these changes for individual programmes, including for Small Charities Challenge Fund. No decisions have yet been made.

The UK remains fully committed to the Sustainable Development Goals. Everyone has a role to play to achieve them including communities, local government, the private sector, and civil society.